Pored svoje visoke kvalitete cv. Plavac mali poznat je u literaturi i kao mogući sinonim kultivara Zinfandel u Kaliforniji i kultivara Primitivo u Italiji. Hipoteza kako je Plavac mali zapravo autohtoni hrvatski kultivar (Dalmacija) prenesen u Italiju gdje dobiva ime Primitivo i u Kaliforniju gdje dobiva ime Zinfandel već ranije je znanstveno ispitivana. Komparacijom klimatskih zahtjeva za uzgoj i razvoj svakog od navedenih kultivara utvrdili smo da Plavac mali ne može biti istovjetni genotip ni kultivara Primitivo ni Zinfandel. Analizom biljega DNA (mikrosateliti) dokazano je da su Zinfandel i Primitivo istog genotipa, tj. genetski sinonimi, a da je Plavac mali posebna sorta. Međutim, stupanj genetske sličnosti između biljega DNA upućuje da su Plavac mali i Zinfandel/Primitivo srodni na razini kakva se nalazi između roditelja i potomaka.Besides its high quality wine, cv. Plavac mali is also famous as a possible synonym for cv. Zinfandel, widely grown in California, and cv. Primitivo, grown in Southern Italy. The supposition that Plavac mali is actually native to Croatia (Dalmatia region) and was introduced to Italy and named as Primitivo, and also introduced to California where it is named as Zinfandel, has been scientifically examined. Based on a comparison of climate requirements for growth and development for each of the above mentioned cultivars, we judged that Plavac mali cannot be of the same genotype as cv. Primitivo or Zinfandel. DNA marker analysis (microsatellites) has proven that Zinfandel and Primitivo share the same genotype, i.e., they are genetically synonyms, but cv. Plavac mali is a distinct variety. However, the degree of genetic similarity among the DNA markers suggests that Plavac mali and Zinfandel/Primitivo probably are related as parent and progeny
